Futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

in Australia is governed by the

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

and its state based futsal associations. Australia has played in seven

FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherland ...

History

In 1970, the first competitive indoor soccer game was played in Australia at the YMCA Sporting Complex in

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

, Sydney. It was introduced by Edwin (Eddie) Palmer, a new immigrant, who had recently arrived from East Africa. In 1971, Dawn Gilligan, Jack Bowder and a few parents of the players taking part in the inaugural competition, took a team to Revesby YMCA. It was played due a wet in the winter football season, which closed outdoor grounds for many weeks. Gilligan and then manager of the YMCA, Joe Brent wrote to England to obtain official rules and the game spread to other YMCAs. The following year the game of

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

, which at the time was experiencing worldwide growth, was introduced in the Revesby YMCA, and adapted as a competitive competition for the new season. The popularity of the sport saw it slowly spread to the other states. In 1977, Brent became first president of the Australian Indoor Soccer Association, which affiliated with FIFUSA two years later. The first national championships took place in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1980.

Competitions

The F-League was the national futsal competition in Australia. It is organised by FNSW. By state or territory

South Australia

In South Australia, the South Australian Futsal League (SAFL) is the state's premier competition. It was established in 2013, and is yet to be affiliated with

Football South Australia The Football South Australia (FSA), formerly known as Football Federation South Australia (FFSA), is the governing body of association football, football (also known as soccer) in South Australia, established in 2006. Description Football Sout ...

. In Western Australia the Supa-Lig
www.futsalsupaliga.com.au
and th
WA State Futsal league
are the state's premier competitions. The Supa-Liga is organised b
www.westcoastfutsal.org.au
and they run futsal specifically in multiple locations around WA, an
Pro Futsal
which affiliates with

Football West Football West is the state governing and censoring body for soccer in Western Australia (WA). It is affiliated with Football Australia (FA), the sport's national governing body, and through FA's affiliation to FIFA. Football West's premier comp ...

, and played at the Pro Futsal Centre in Bibra Lake. The two competitions have more than 30 clubs currently competing in the Futsal leagues in Men, Women, Youth and Junior competitions. The West Coast Futsal Association have state and national representative links while also linking players to clubs overseas.

Queensland

Queensland's top division in Futsal is the SEQ Futsal Premier League which is organised by

Football Queensland Football Queensland is recognised by both the State and Federal Governments and Football Australia as the governing body for association football and futsal in Queensland, Australia. Tracing its history back to the establishment of the Ang ...

, the states governing Football organisation.

Victoria

In Victoria, the premier Futsal league is known as Series Futsal Victoria organized by Futsal Oz. The Series Futsal lower leagues are known as Series Futsal Championship, State League 1 and State League 2. In the Eastern part of Victoria, the premier Futsal league is known as Pro Futsal Mt Evelyn Premier League which is organized by Pro Futsal Mt Evelyn, a sub-branch of Pro Futsal. Pro Futsal Mt Evelyn is affiliated with

Football Victoria Football Victoria is the state governing body for soccer in Victoria, Australia. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the sport's national governing body. History Football Victoria began operation in 1884 under the name Anglo Australian ...

. In the Western part of Victoria, the premier Futsal league is known as AFG Premium League which is organized by Australia Futsal Group and is affiliated with

. The Australian Futsal Association considers itself to be the biggest futsal organisation in Australia which organised competitive state futsal league and national championship tournaments around Australia.

Futsal OZ

Futsal Oz is an elite futsal organization founded by a former Australian Futsal player Peter Parthimos. Its headquarter is located in Brunswick, Victoria and has organised Semi-Professional Futsal Leagues and Cups tournaments all over of Australia. The first-tier league is the Serie Futsal which comprises six semi-professional futsal leagues in six territories and states. The top clubs of each leagues compete against each other in a three-day elite Futsal tournament called Serie Futsal Australia.

Pro Futsal

Pro Futsal is a private organization that runs Futsal competitions in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and

Victoria State Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in A ...

. The competitions consists of Elite, Juniors and Social competitions and the headquarter is located in Bibra Lake, Western Australia and has a sub-branch in Mount Evelyn, Victoria. Pro Futsal Perth premium competition is known as the WA State League and Pro Futsal Mt Evelyn is known as Mt Evelyn Premier League.

National teams

The national futsal teams represent Australia in international competition. Australian national teams historically competed in the OFC, though since FFA's move in 2006, Australian teams have competed in AFC competitions. The Australian futsal team represents Australia at the

and the AFC Futsal Championship. The Australian women's futsal team represents Australia at the

Women's Futsal World Tournament The Women's Futsal World Tournament is an international women's futsal competition for national teams, organized by national associations and the World Futsal Association. The first edition took place in 2010 in Spain and was won by Brazil. The to ...

References

External links

Futsal4All - Futsal News for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific IslandsAustralian Futsal AssociationFutsal OzSouth Australian Futsal LeagueSupa-LigaWest Coast Futsal AssociationPro FutsalWA State Futsal League
{{Oceania topic, Futsal in Futsal in Australia,